INTERVIEW: INTO ETERNITY

A couple months ago, I interviewed Blood of Christ a band that was making a comeback after a decade. Another Canadian band, Into Eternity is back after close to a decade. Their 6th album The Sirens releases in a couple of weeks. The album is reminiscent of their early albums despite a new line up.

I spoke to band founder Tim Roth about The Sirens, self releasing the album and also keeping the band going for over 2 decades.

The Sirens is your first album in 9 years. How does it feel now that the album is going to be released soon?

It feels great to finally have the album being released soon! The last single we had out was in 2012, so the fans have already waited too long for a full length disc. It’s been a long road, but the end is finally here and everyone will be able to hear our new songs very soon.

In addition to a new vocalist Amanda Kiernan, you have also got a new drummer, Bryan Newbury and guitarist Matt Cuthbertson. How did they become a part of the line up?

Bryan was the first to join us in 2011, back when we were still jamming with Stu Block. After Stu ended up joining a band that I love Iced Earth, he recommended we audition Amanda. She sent us a video and we thought she could do it. Stu was there at rehearsals watching Amanda and giving her advice/encouragement. Amanda has such a great vocal range and tone, plus she has such a unique/fun personality. We did a few tours with her and we decided that Amanda was the correct choice for us. Matt joined the band in 2013, so it’s already been 5 years for him. Matt and his band Untimely Demise had toured with us over the years, so we knew he would be the right fit for us. He has the right personality and the proper chops to play anything we create. Matt is also a great riff/song writer, he has the right look and most importantly Matt is such a positive, easy going musician.

The Sirens reminds me of your early releases. Do tell us more about the album.

Thank you for saying that and I can see how fans might make that connection. A big reason for that is the change in singers I’d say. Back on the first two records, I did most of the singing for our band, until the Buried In Oblivion record, which featured Chris Krall on lead vocals. The album took a very long time to write and it was spaced over 3 or 4 years between demos, pre production, rehearsals and recording. There was no time line that we had to abide by so we really took our time with The Sirens. We are all happy with the results and even though it took some time, we feel it was worth all of the hard work and effort.

The singles Sandstorm and Fukushima were released in 2011 and 2012 respectively. What was the writing process for the rest of the album?

Basically everything was completed over a 4 year span. There was no time line, so that meant we could really pick and choose the riffs and complete the songs to the best of our ability, but on our own accord. This turned out to be our longest album ever, but with only 8 songs, there are a lot of epic parts going on. There are a lot of twists and turns on this new disc, with so much exciting music/riffing/playing.

Did the new members bring a change to the songwriting process of the album or did it remain the same as earlier?

The song writing process didn’t change, but the sound of our band has progressed. Having Matt’s solos, Bryan’s frantic drumming and Amanda’s emotional vocals really did help shape our overall sound of this CD. Troy also was a help with arranging and he wrote most of the lyrics to the song The Sirens. The whole band was on fire during the writing and recording sessions.

The album is being self released after being signed to Century Media for close to a decade. What is the reason you have chosen to stay independent and not sign up with any label?

There are a few reasons why we stayed independent up until this point. There comes an incredible freedom with running the business side ourselves. It is a lot more work for us, but it created a sort of freedom that we have enjoyed. Century Media treated us amazing well when we were on the label. We would have never have had the expose that such a big label could provide to us, especially financially. Tours with Megadeth and Dream Theater just couldn’t of happened for us without Century Media’s support. That being said, we have had multiple record deal offers and we’re going through them and seeing if one of them might be a good match for this new disc.

What has motivated you to keep going through the different line ups over the past 2 decades?

Metal music is our biggest love in life. We are all music fans first and musicians as well, so we have a great deal of respect for our heavy metal peers. There is nothing that we enjoy more in life than heavy metal! Line ups come and go, but that doesn’t stop us from continuing on playing and performing our brand of Metal. We have been a band for 22 years now and we still love it just as much as ever.

What’s currently on your playlist?

I’m listening to the new Judas Priest called Firepower. It’s the album of the year! Incredible riffing, drumming and some of the best heavy metal vocals ever.

Do you have any shows planned for the rest of the year?

Into Eternity will be playing a CD release gig headlining at the Loud As Hell festival on August 3 2018. Hopefully some of our Canadian fans can make it to that gig. More shows are currently being planned for the Fall.